Werewolf
Werewolves are a subspecies of humans who have the ability to shapeshift between human and wolf form. They transform and develop a wolf body inside their human body and breaks out of their human body. The wolf that transforms back into a human will shed their wolf body and allow the human body that is inside their own wolf bodies to come out. There are only three ways for a human to become a werewolf. They are either born one, bitten by one, or can become one by their own will by drinking from the paw print of another werewolf (as demonstrated by Christina, in Episode 12). Werewolves can change whenever they choose to, though they should only do so when a full moon is in the sky, whether it is day or night. If they transform without a full moon in the sky at any time, they risk becoming a mentally and physically unstable werewolf that is consumed by its condition until it dies from it. 'Known Werewolves' *'Peter Rumancek' *'Hermila' † *'Christina Wendall' † (former, later a Vargulf) *'Nicolae Rumancek' † (former, later a Vargulf) 'Origin' According to folklore, Werewolves ('also known as a lycanthropes) were created by witchcraft. It can be assumed that they have been around for a long time, perhaps since the beginning of time. It would seem that werewolves that are part of gypsy groups. At least some werewolves can practice witchcraft and perform rituals as Peter did/does: once going into a trance to talk to Nicolae, who warned him against trusting Upirs such as Roman, and also to safely transform into wolf form not during the full moon without becoming a vargulf. The wolf activating a transformation is called the Luna Rea, and activating it against the the rule and phasing of the moon causes them to become physicically and mentally unstable, as they become prone to violence, and later on, even murderous. Doing this to many times causes the wolf inside them becomes rabid and takes over a werewolfss ability to turn, as well as their minds, and overshadow the human traits and consciousness. This turns them into a vargulf. Werewolves are seen to be connected physically and mentally to the pull of the moon and its phases and turning against the moons phases strains the body and mind until the vargulf condition occurs. 'Becoming a Werewolf There are only three ways to becomes a werewolf: *1) Being born a werewolf. *2) Being bitten by a werewolf. *3) Consuming water taken from the footprint of a werewolf during a full moon. 'Characteristics' It should be noted that werewolves and vargulfs can sense others of their kind, whether in human or wolf form. It is possible that it is the wolf bodies inside them that are sensing the other, which is why Peter said that he could sense the vargulf (Christina) inside him and could search for it with its senses. 'Appearance ' 'Human' Werewolves are indistinguishable from humans while in human form, though they typically have a higher percentage of body hair and or muscle. It is possible that the more unstable a vargulf becomes, the more their lycanthropy affects their bodies. For example, Christina's hair gradually turned completely white during her days as a vargulf (and she became insane), although some of this transformation might have been caused by her traumatic experiences with the corspe of one of her victims. It is said by Christina that if a person's middle and pointer fingers are the same length, it shows them to be a werewolf. Peter does in fact happen to have this trait. 'Wolf' Werewolves in wolf form are cougar-or leopard-sized wolves with some bear characteristica in their build and with paws and similar to that of a bear or lion. Their fore legs also almost look like human arms. Each werewolf has a distinct form, which differs mainly in fur. So far in the series, yellow is the only werewolf eye color. The wolf's coloring does not necessarily resemble that of the human form, but if the hair of the werewolf changes like Christina's did, their wolf's hair will change accordingly. Vargulfs have less wolf like characteristics, as due partially transformed werewolves, though that might only be during wrong moons or whenever a full moon is not over the sky. Their wolf form is as feral and as instinctually as a regular animal but with the memoriesandd somewhat the personallies of their human form. 'Anatomy' Werewolves have a cellular structure completely different from humans. Werewolves still produce waste and can become pregnant. During a shift, a werewolves' anatomy changes completely from human to wolf. As with their cosmetic features, werewolf anatomies are not normally influenced by their human form unless they are afflicted by the vargulf condition. 'Powers' * Shape-Shifting - Werewolves have the ability to shift into wolves. They are able to use this power at will however they only use it during the full moon, or else they become mental and physical unstabke and rabid, both in human and wolf form. Transformation causes them to become weak and tired, almost like a hangover. If they were to shape-shift too many times without the full moon or they would turn into a vargulf, either immediately, if a fully transformation is performed and not partial or simply overtime. It is possible for a werewolf to utilize their transformation to heal themselves, either in human or wolf form, sometimes even from fatal damage, such as having ones face stripped of flesh to the skull, as transform back to a human form with no damage at all, as if their transformation rebirths them each time they transform. Also, when a werewolf's wolf body is killed, such as Peter's wolf was killed by Christina's wolf, and seemingly died but came back as Peter's human form. Also, when Peter transformed his internal body into the wolf's and transformed the inside of his head into that of the wolf, he transformed back after his upper body developed open wounds from the transformation, along with his human head being reduced to a skin mask. These wounds immediately closed up as he transformed back and his wolf head retreated into his mouth and his head was complete again. Also the wolf can appear in several different ways, all of which are controlled by the werewolf. Peter partially transformed and made claws without paws come out of his wrists so that he could cut of his plastic restraints when he was a prisoner of the Caul * Enhanced Strength - Transformed werewolves are shown to be slightly stronger than regular humans and half-upir. In their transformed state, they are shown to overpower humans and easily rag-doll them, but can be fought off, such as when Roman held a transformed werewolf, Christina, at bay with an axe handle he shoved in her mouth. They are slightly stronger than a regular wolf and other predatorial animals and can shred a human in a minute. A werewolf in human form can exert the same force of a regular human and can be beaten up and being made to require medical attention. Peter could tap into his wolf, transforming his muscles, and enhance his strength for a minute or less. He used this to break the nose of a drug dealer that attack him. He only needed one punch to completely break it, with no affect to his body at all. *'Heightened Senses' - Even in human form a Werewolf possesses enhanced wolf-like senses and instincts. They're able to sense and smell things normal humans can't. *'Enhanced Speed' - While in their wolf forms werewolves have shown to be incredibly fast that they often use to catch their prey. While in the woods Peter was able to move swiftly to catch his prey. Vargulfs seem to move faster than regular werewolves. 'Weaknesses' *'Turning On The Wrong Moon': If a werewolf turns during the other stages of the lunar cycle rather than on the night of the full moon, they can become a vargulf, meaning they are rabid in their wolf form and develop mental illness in human form. This can happen if they break the lunar cycle more than once. Once someone has become a vargulf they are unable to control their turning and become unstable as humans, and they do not even know they are turning and become mentally ill or delusioned. Peter was left with the rib cage of his wolf form that did not change back into his human ribs and became more aggressive, with his hostile nature growing after his transformation against the moon strained him. It seems that if a werewolf turns completely and not partially on the wrong moon, they will be a vargulf shortly after. On the other hand, a werewolf who so much as transforms only a small portion of their bodies once will be sick and vomit blood for minutes after transforming. It can also cause heightened aggression and loss of temper in human form. The accumulation of transformations against the moons phases can turn werewolf into a vargulf. The reason for this is because of physical and mental strain on the body and mind due to transforming against the pull of the moons phases and the body and mind then become become misaligned as they do not feel the phases of the moon properly, as they normally can the moons phases. The process of physical and mental degeneration is called distrugere, the Romani word meaning to be destroyed, spoiled, or burned away, or to ruin oneself. * Non-Humanoid Body: D'ue to their non humanoid shape and their lack of joints that provide the movement that humanoids possess, werewolves are exposed in certain parts of their bodies, and be attacked from the sides or be picked up and killed. Also, since they are limited in theor attacks due their quadripedal bodies only allowing them to lung forward and slightly reach to the sides but turn as fast as humanoids can and can be overwhelmed and killed due to their predictable movements *'Mortality: Because they do not have enhanced healing factors, werewolf can be killed in anyway a normal human can be killed. Unless they are transforming, which destroys their human bodies to make way for their wolf body or vice versa, they would not survive mortal damage. Transforming without the full moon could cause them to become a vargulf, and their transformation could eventually kill them when they become a vargulf, which is a possible explanation of what exactly kills a vargulf. *'Mercury': Mercury, also called Quicksilver, or Mercur, the latter by the Gypsies, is a liquid that can burn the skin of a werewolf on contact and cause agonizing pain. 'Transformation' The turn is seen as a painful experience. The transformation normally occurs during a full moon, however, it can be triggered if the werewolf hears its other name. The first season should that during transformation, the werewolf's bones break, its eyes are pushed out of the sockets by wolf eyes, paws tear their way through the werewolf's hands, and its teeth are replaced set of canine teeth, as the wolf within reveals itself. The wolf body seems to be the human body under all the skin layers and surface tissue transfigured into a wolf like body. Briefly, a transforming person's voice can change and become inhumanly deep and distorted as their vocal cords are transforming, though this happened rarely in the times that transformatioss were shown. At least in the first season, werewolfss that transform and lose their human skin will eat their remaing human bodies shredded skin and outer tissues before moving away. For Hermila's transformation, her teeth became animal like fangs, her nails became long claws, and her voice became deeper and depper until it became only growling. Throughout her transformation, she was not mutalated at all by an internal wolf, showing their are differences in the way people turn and the transfromation is not always the same. The new transformation in season 2 shows the internal part of the body up to the muscles separating from the human surface layering, with the inside of the body becoming the wolf body and the outside becoming more like a rubber like, bloodless covering that sheds off and tears when the wolf transforms. However, Peter once did n ot transform with his skin peeling off, though their was only one peice of skin left on the floor where he had been shot with an arrow. It seems that werewolves do not always end up having their human anatomy mutalated upon transformation, though it may only be a small part of them that is mutalated or damaged in any way. In the second season, the body is shown to be broken open like a cacoon or chrysalis with the human body on the ground. Peter also It stays transformed for a whole night and possibly during the morning part of the day. In terms of transforming from wolf to human form, it has been described as "beautiful" by Roman; and events in Season 2 reveal that the person, when transformed into a wolf, actually resides inside the body of the wolf. This can be seen by Peter stroking a drug dealers face with a human arm which was coming out of his werewolf-form mouth while another Peters body was partial transformed with the head and bones only being transformed and his wolfs head was coming out of his human mouth while he was crawling on all four of his human limbs while a thiid hand was coming out of his wolf mouth. This was also shown when he being dragged out of his torn wolf body by Roman. Although this did not seem so in the first season, as their was no sign of the wolf body and it is assumed their bodies transfigured back into human form or that the wolf body dissolved somehow and all that was left was the human body insode. It is seen that in each transformation, the human body of the werewolf is regenerated and physically rebirthed after each one after their bodies are pulled apart from the inside. Right after each transformation, each body is capable of developing the others as part of it own, just as Peter did in season two and when he made a theird human hand come from his wolf head which in turn was coming out of his human body. It is possible that if the wolf body is damaged or killed, though not by any damage involving the head of neck and a simple stabbing based wound, they revert back to their human form and, therefore, regenerate their bodies and live in a body that was not damaged. When it transforms back to human form, the wolf lays down and begins to break apart and hatch like an egg or caccoon, releasing the human body. 'Feeding' Werewolves are able to digest normal food and drinks. However, in their wolf form, werewolves can digest anything a normal wolf can consume. This includes humans (and their own shed skin), animals, upirs, and other werewolves. Werewolves don't have urges or habits which involve killing and feeding from different creature. 'Psychology' Werewolves are predatory creatures, and are far more brutal than their human appearance suggest. They are usually quick to temper when ever threatened or challenged. That can be enhanced by being afflicted by the vargulf condition. As humans, they can control all their urges as easy as humans can, while in wolf form this is true save for cases when the werewolf is a vargulf. It is generally easy to control themselves, so long as werewolves do not turn against their moon cycle and become a vargulf. Their wolf form is as feral and as instinctually as a regualr animal but with the memories of their human form. Werewolves are capable of human emotions, such as compassion, love, and self-control. However, these are typically more intense than human emotions. Werewolves are less inclined to have inhibitions and are noticably less shy and quicker to act upon what they feel, such as when Peter was easily seduced by Letha despite his intent to resist her, and his quickly-developed loyalty to her that extended to his wolf form, causing his wolf to defend her with his life. He wolf was willing to a defended Roman from Christina when he was unable to defeat her, even risking being killed by her to defend him. It seems that the personality and memories of the wolf can drive the wolf's actions, as Peter's wolf acted on Peters desire to find the vargulf and tracked for it in the steel mill. It growled at Roman when he saw that Roman followed him him during his hunt when he told him not to, though this was not entirely a threat display and simply a sign of annoyance. Lastly, the wolf instinctually defended Letha and Roman from Christina the way an animal would defend another of its kind. It even was willing to be killed by her to save them. 'Traditions' Among werewolves the proper burial of a werewolf includes the decapitation of the body. This is done because if a werewolf's head is not removed upon death, they will come back at a later date, usually a week or less later, in a crazed state. They will even come back from rotting away as a corpse and die all over again, but they will return again. They will also transform repeatedly and at random from wolf to human form and vice versa, which causes a cycle of decomposition and regeneration every time they die, come back to life, and transform between wolf and human forms. After dying at the hands of Shelley and being buried, Christina came back a day or more later in her grave and died of suffocation and or lack of sustenance, and decomposed again after that. At least a year later, Christina's rotted corpse finally broke free of her coffin and the ground. Upon her corpse's hands reaching the surface, she transformed into her white wolf form, as it seemed permanently changed to that white form while her regular hair changed back to normal color upon her first death. 'Aging' Werewolves age at a fairly slower rate than humans but still live a human lifespan, though perhaps they always become a bit older as they regenerate their bodies each time they transform and slow the process of aging.